Dr Michelle Dickinson: nanotechnologist on the 'exercise snacks' found to help with weight-loss

Scientists have just found that the best way to burn more calories is to snack - exercise snack that is! 

The research published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B found that climbing stairs or walking for short bursts resulted in people consuming 20 percent to 60 percent more energy than if they did the same activity nonstop for the same distance.  

The study compared the oxygen and energy demands of volunteers walking or climbing stairs. It found that the first moments of activity are the least efficient. Much like how a car consumes more fuel when starting up, the human body uses more energy at the beginning of a walk or climb before it hits its stride. 

To gather these insights, researchers measured the oxygen consumption of participants across different walking speeds and durations, from as short as 10 seconds to up to four minutes. They found that short bursts of walking or stair-climbing demanded significantly more energy than continuous walking over the same distance. 

This research reinforces the health benefits of brief, energetic movements, known as 'exercise snacks' - which involve short bursts of activity lasting just a minute or two. These mini workouts can be especially beneficial for people who lead sedentary lifestyles or have limited mobility, including those with obesity or recovering from strokes. 

While most studies on walking have focused on steady-state exercises lasting several minutes, this research offers new insights into the benefits of shorter bursts. It also highlights the potential for designing rehabilitation programs tailored to those who may not be able to walk for extended periods, such as elderly individuals or those with gait disorders. 

By rethinking how we measure the energy demands of walking, this study opens the door to more inclusive and effective approaches to physical activity for all.   

Some examples of 'exercise snacks' include: 

• Stair climbing
• Jumping jacks.
• Jumping rope.
• Chair squats.
• Lunges.
• Sprints.
• Pushups.
• Mountain climbers. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks edb in.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Joining us now with our science study the Week is
doctor Michel Dikinson. Then a girl, Good morning, Good morning.
I love a good lifestyle. Heck, and I think you've
got a beauty for us today.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
You know me, I'm a busy mum and I'm always
looking for science research with evidence that proves that I
don't have to be a gym bunny and I don't
have to beat myself up that I didn't do an
hour a day at the gym because this new research
has been like, just do what they're calling an exercise snack,
and I love snacks, so I'm totally into this. If
you want to read this, it's in the journal Royal

(00:43):
Society B. It was published this week and basically it
says exercise snacks burn more calories than if you just
consistently did the same exercise for a long period of time.
So what are they talking about. They basically took ten
volunteers and they put masks on them and they measured
their oxygen uptake, which is basically a way to measure

(01:03):
how much energy they're burning as a function of the
exercise that they're doing. And then they gave them two
different types of exercise. One of them was walking on
a treadmill and one of them was doing a stair climber,
so climbing stairs or brisk walking. And then they measured
how much energy they used per second for exercise that
lasted only ten seconds, so literally just going upstairs for

(01:24):
ten seconds up to four minutes. Now, this is very
rare in exercise research. Usually you would measure people doing
exercise for a longer period of time and consistent twenty minute,
thirty minute walks something like that. People don't really measure
people who do ten seconds with of exercise, but they did,
and what they found, which is beautiful, is that short
bursts of exercise demand significantly more energy than continuous exercise

(01:50):
over the same distance. Basically, they found out that you
burn twenty to sixty percent more energy if you do
it as a quick exercise snack then if you did
it non stop for the same total distance. So if
you did five snacks a day versus one big exercise thing,
you're actually going to burn up to sixty percent more calories,
isn't it interesting?

Speaker 2 (02:10):
So does this sort of go along the same lines
as that sort of hit training and interval training that
you're doing short berths of really pushing yourself to an
extreme and then resting and then pushing and resting.

Speaker 3 (02:19):
Yeah, and they described it in the paper, which is
really easy. Like if you have a cold car in
the morning and you start it up, it takes more
energy to warm up the car and get it going,
So once it's warm, it drives much more efficiently than
it does on our cold winter's morning when you're starting it.
The same happens for your body. You'll starting from a
cold state. It takes more energy to ramp you up,
to get you breathing, to get your body or going

(02:41):
to the excise state, and then once you're in that state,
you're actually more efficient staying in that state. So basically
they're comparing us to old cars. But I'm okay with
that because it actually allows us to think about not
beating ourselves up because we didn't do our ten thousand
steps all the long. Go, but go, what are tiny
things that I can do in my lifestyle. If I
work in an office, how do I just make sure
I take a flight of steps instead of taking the lift,

(03:04):
How do I park at the far end of the
supermarket and brisk walk in rather than park the closest park.
Tiny little things all added together actually mean that you
can still increase your fitness and burn the energy. And
this is a great way, and they say it in
the paper for those who have limited mobility, if you're elderly,
if you've had an accident, or you have some sort
of mobility issues, you can now do targeted exercises in

(03:27):
very small chunks and still get the benefits. Then if
you were trying to do big hikes somewhere.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
I was intrigued by this, so I did a bit
of a google about some examples of exercise snacks and
if you want to look like a real idiot at work,
you can get every Obviously, the stair climbing is a
really obvious one, but they were like other great things
that you can do with your jumping jecks or skipping
rope or cheer squats or lungers and push ups or
mountain climbs, which might be a little bit awkward to
do in the office space. Now we're in open plan offices,

(03:57):
it's not quite the same. But actually maybe maybe you
should maybe one should get up and just jump checks
for thirty seconds and then sit down again.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
Probably at buzzy yeah office buzzo, where everybody just jumps yeah,
maybe five seconds on the hour, every.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
Bothes and and sits down again.

Speaker 3 (04:13):
Look and if you look at office workers and how
much time they're sitting doing nothing. If you just and
if you've got a smart watch, it does remind you
get up and go do something like put those devices on,
put a time around and literally every forty five minutes,
climb a couple of flights of says, go back down.
It doesn't have to be a lot, but it makes
a huge difference.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
It would be hilarious to see someone pull out a
skipping rope and just totally jump rope office.

Speaker 3 (04:35):
Will you go exercise snack my favorite type of snack.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
It seems no.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
I love it to Thank you so much, Michelle.

Speaker 1 (04:41):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
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